XXIII
TOM AND THE MAN WITH THE GAME LEG
IT was very dark indeed when the ship’s boats, well manned and withcarefully muffled oars, set out for the capture.
Tom was at the bow of one of them and Cal at that of the other, to actas pilots. It was planned that these two boats should lead the way intothe two entrances, the others closely following.
Silently the two fleets made their way to the two points of landing.The one which passed up the creek halted as soon as it came withinsight of the landing where the smugglers were busily and noisilytrying to get their loaded boats afloat, a task in which they wereencountering much difficulty, as the lieutenant had foreseen that theymust. It was the lieutenant’s plan that his boats should lie there,hidden by the darkness, until the men entering by the cove should land,march across the neck of swamp, and take the smugglers in the rear,thus cutting off all possibility of their escape into the bushes.
As soon as he saw the signal light that Tom showed to announce thereadiness of the party he accompanied, the lieutenant rushed his boatsashore, and the two revenue parties, without firing a shot, seized anddisarmed their foes, who, until their captors were actually upon them,had had no dream of their coming.
In the meanwhile, under the lieutenant’s previously given orders, thecutter had slowly steamed up toward the mouth of the creek, where, at asignal, she came to anchor.
Hurriedly the captured booty was loaded into the ship’s boats andcarried to the revenue vessel. Then the smugglers’ camp was minutelysearched to see if any goods remained there, and the hovels were set onfire.
While all this was going on that curiosity on Tom’s part, which haddone so much already, was again at work. Tom wanted to know somethingthat was not yet clear to him, and he set to work to find out.Detaching the lame smuggler from his companions, Tom entered intoconversation with him. Fortunately the man was sober now, and had beenso long enough to render him despondent.
“You’re not fit for this sort of thing,” Tom said to him after he hadbroken through the man’s moody surliness and silence. “With your gameleg and the brutal way the others treat you, I should think you’d havegot out of it long ago.”
“They’d ’a’ killed me if I’d tried,” the man answered.
“Well, they can’t do that now,” said Tom, “for they’re in for a term inprison.”
“But they’s others, jest as I told you that night you fellers caught meat your boat. There’s the fellers up the creek what’s a-waitin’ thisminute for us to come up with the goods.”
This was what Tom wanted to find out.
“Yes, of course,” he replied; “they’ll be disappointed, won’t they? Isuppose they expect to get the goods well inland before morning?”
“No, not exactly; but they’d ’a’ got ’em hid into a little storethey’ve got up there, so’s they could work ’em off up to Charleston ordown to Savannah, little at a time, like. Howsomever, the game’s upnow, and them what’s got all the profits out’n it’ll play pious an’ goscot free, while us fellers what’s done all the work an’ took all therisks has got to go to jail.”
A new thought suddenly struck Tom.
“_You_ needn’t, if I’m not mistaken. Anyhow, there’s a chance for youthat’s worth working for.”
“What’s the good o’ talkin’ that away? Ain’t I ketched long o’ therest?”
“Yes, of course. I was only thinking—”
“What was you a-thinkin’?”
“Oh, only that the revenue people would a good deal rather have the‘others’ you speak of—the men further up the creek and the men behindthem—than to have you.”
“I reckon they would, but what’s that got to do with it?”
“Only that if you made up your mind to turn Government’s witness andgive the whole snap away; they’d be pretty apt to let you off easily.”
The man sat silent for a time. At last he muttered:
“First place, I don’t know enough. Them fellers ain’t no fools an’ theyain’t a-lettin’ fellers like me into their secrets. I ain’t never seedany of ’em, ‘ceptin’ the storekeeper up that away what takes the stufffrom us, an’ pays us little enough for gittin’ it there. ’Sides that,them fellers has got money an’ lots o’ sense. Even ef I know’d allabout it an’ ef I give it away, ’twould be only the wuss for me. They’dhave me follered to the furdest corner o’ the earth an’ killed like adog at last. No, ’tain’t no use. I’ve got to take my medicine. Time forrunnin’ away is past, an’ I ain’t got but one good leg to run with, yousee.”
“What made you lame, anyhow?” asked Tom, by way of keeping up theconversation without seeming too insistent on his suggestion that theman should confess.
“That bully with the red face—our captain, as he calls hisself. Hekicked my hip out’n jint one day when I was drunk, an’ seein’s theywa’nt no doctor anywheres about, he sot it hisself, an’ sot it wrongsomehow. Anyhow, I’d like to do him up if I could.”
Tom noted the remark and the vindictive tone in which it was made, buthe did not reply to it at once. Instead, he said:
“They must pay him better than they do the rest of you?”
“Him? You bet! He gits a lot out’n the business, an’ he’s got deadoodles and scads o’ money put away in the bank. He’s close in withthe big ones what’s backin’ the game. It was him what set it up fustoff—leastways him an’ Pedro Mendez.”
“Who is Pedro Mendez?”
“Oh, he’s—never you mind who he is. See here, young feller, you’s aaxin’ too many questions.”
“NO, ’TAIN’T NO USE. I’VE GOT TO TAKE MY MEDICINE.”_Page 225._]
“Not too many for your good if you have sense enough to take my advice.Listen to me! You know a great deal more about this lawless businessthan you pretend. You know enough to make you a very valuable witness.If you choose to help the revenue people in getting at the bottom of itand breaking it up, they’re sure to let you off very easily, and as forkilling you, the people in the thing will have enough to do in lookingout for themselves without bothering about that after they get out ofjail.”
Tom explained and elaborated this point, and at last the lame man beganto see hope ahead for himself.
“Will they make a certain sure promise to let me off if I tell all Iknow?” he asked.
“No. They can’t do that, for if they did your testimony would beworthless. But they always do let state’s witnesses off easily, and insuch a case as this they’re sure to do so. You can be very easy aboutthat.”
“An’ they’d bear down all the harder on the cap’n when they found outhe was one o’ the big managers o’ the game, wouldn’t they?”
“I should say they would give him the largest dose the law allows.”
“I’ll do it then, jest to git even with him. I’ll do it even if theydon’t reckon it up much to my credit. How’ll I go about it?”
“I’ll arrange that for you. I’ll tell the lieutenant who is in commandhere that you’re ready to ‘give the snap away,’ and he’ll take yourstatement. Then, when the time comes you’ll only have to go into courtand tell your story over again.”
“But if them fellers finds out I’ve been chinnin’ with the lieutenantthey’ll kill me right there on board the ship.”
“The lieutenant will take care of that. He’ll see that they have nochance to get at you.”
“Is that certain—sure—hard an’ fast?”
“Yes—certain, sure, hard and fast,” answered Tom, with a gleefulnessthat he found it difficult to keep out of his voice and manner.
Going to the lieutenant and interrupting him in the directions he wasbusily giving, Tom said under his breath:
“Separate the lame man from the rest. He’ll confess, and it’s a bigstory. The others will kill him if they suspect.”
The lieutenant was quick to catch Tom’s meaning and to act upon it.Turning to a petty officer he gave the order:
“Take the prisoners aboard under a s
trong guard. The rest of thefreight can wait. Put the lame man in my boat and leave him behindunder a guard.”
As the boats containing the prisoners moved off down the creek, Tom’scuriosity again got the best of him. Turning to Larry he said:
“They’re arresting these men without a warrant, Larry, and we’ve helpedthem to do the very thing you said we ought to fight to prevent.”
“No warrant is needed in this case. The gang has been ‘caught in theact’ of committing crime, and caught with the goods on them.”
“Oh, I see,” said Tom. “That makes all the difference in the world.”